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November 23 - Word of Revelation

Word of God is Revelation:
In this cultural environment we see people trying to find out who they are, what they should believe, how to live a good life and find purpose and meaning. But in this world saturated with influencers, opinions, AI content, fake stories and manufactured lies - it seems like people walk forward in a gloom, trying to see the path forward but uncertain of the next step. What can guide us forward?
 
The Psalmist writes, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The Word of God, the scriptures, God-breathed and given to us, are our guide of truth in a world filled with lies and half-truths. The word of God reveals to us the path that leads us to truth, goodness and righteousness. The Word is the lamp for our feet. The psalmist begins the psalm with these words: Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart—they do no wrong but follow his ways.
The word of God is revelation - it reveals to us the ways we should go, how we should live, and what is true.

Word of God Reveals Truth:
 What scripture reveals to us, as a lamp to our feet in the darkness of relativism and manufactured information, is that real truth and real morality exist. There is such a thing as sin and evil and humans are twisted up in it. The lie people want to believe is that most people are pretty good people and do pretty good things and if we all just did what we wanted, while promising not to harm anyone, everything would just work itself out.
 
What scripture reveals to us, and what we see repeatedly throughout human history, is that sin crouches at the door and it makes itself seem smaller than it really is, until it overtakes us. Sin does not seem all that bad, until it has nearly devoured us. We are experts at justifying our behaviours and refusing to take responsibility for our actions.
 he word of God reveals to us how we ought to live, reveals to us how to walk free from sin and live righteously, how to behave so that we and our community thrive. The Psalmist says, “Do good to your servant according to your word, Lord. Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees.”

I know that in this age where we all think we can be our own gods, the idea of obedience to a set of boundaries around life seems like it is too rigid, or too restrictive, or taking all the fun out of life. But what scripture reveals to us is a path towards a fulfilled life - we can think of it as guardrails for life -  they protect and guide us. So, what does Scripture tell us?

Scripture tells us that we should not be ruled by money but we should be hardworking and generous, we should not be ruled by lust, we should not be ruled by bitterness, we should not be given to losing control of ourselves to substances, we should not be arrogant but be humble - we should not be liars but be respectful and gentle truth-tellers, we should not take advantage of others but seek ways to help people do well.  
Scripture tells us what we should do is love God, Love our neighbors, love our enemies and love our brothers and sisters in faith . What we should do is act with justice, walk with humility and love being merciful. We should be peace-makers and seek to live at peace with everyone. I don’t know about you, but these guardrails for life revealed in scripture seem like a good way to live. 

Word of God Reveals Power: 
Because the Word of God is living and enduring, it carries the power to bring life and transformation. Pastor Paul Tripp captures this well: "When the Word of God, faithfully taught by the people of God and empowered by the Spirit of God, falls down, people become different. Lusting people become pure, fearful people become courageous, thieves become givers… The ultimate purpose of the Word of God is not theological information but heart and life transformation."

Pastor Jason said, “When the Word of God is brought to you by the Spirit of God, propelled by the grace of God, the result will be nothing less than heart and life transformation. The Word of God doesn’t just inform us—it has the power to transform us. As Pastor Phil pointed out in his sermon, The Spirit of God works in perfect unity with the Word of God to speak truth and life to us. 

Word of God Reveals Life: 
We live in a world of lies and deceit. We have a spiritual enemy, the devil, who is called the father of lies and who seeks to steal, kill and destroy. How do we combat the lies of the enemy? How do we speak life into places of destruction and death? We use the Word of life - guided by and infused with the Spirit of God. The word of God dwells within us by the Spirit. The word of God and the Spirit of God become the weapon we use to combat the lies of the evil one, the devil. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” As Phil said, we have to live in the Word, and allow the Word to live in us.
In Ephesians 6 Paul tells us we have all this spiritual armor to protect us from spiritual attacks of the enemy. This armor is all defensive except on item, Paul says, take up… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Most of the spiritual battle we face is internal, within our minds. We have to be careful to discern what voices we are listening to? What are these internal voices telling us? If we identify thoughts within us that are not in line with what God’s word says we take those thoughts captive, using the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.
 
Pauls says, “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” The Spirit of God using the Word of God allows us to take thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.

The Word Reveals Jesus:
The Word, ultimately, must reveal Jesus to us. Jesus is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets - He is the way the truth and the life. The Pharisees thought they had life in the scriptures but without seeing Jesus in the scriptures they missed everything. Jesus tells the Pharisees, men who knew more scripture than almost any of us in this room, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life."
Let me leave you with this thought. Why do we read, listen to, study the bible? Is it to know the bible better? We may think so, but the real purpose of scripture is to allow us to know Jesus better. 

 

November 16 - Word of Life

The Word of God is alive
Am I aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence as I read and hear God’s Word? How does the Spirit’s presence change the way I interact with God’s Word?

We are called to live in the Word and allow the Word to live in us
How is God calling me to live in His Word and allow his Word to live in me this week? Take a look at the resources below for some ideas of where to start. 

We are called to live out the Word of God
Does the way I live my life around others show that the Word of life lives in me? How does Jesus want me to live out His Word this week? 

 

Living in God's Word...

For more resources even more resources, check out "Growing Together".

November 2 - Word of Truth

Join us in a Digital fast!Slideshow image

 

Additional Resources to Explore

  • Apologist & Teacher Wesley Huff https://www.wesleyhuff.com
  • "The Deconstruction of Christianity" by Alisha Childers and Tim Bennett (Book)
  • "God Has Spoken" by  J.I. Packer (Book)
  • 28-Day Digital Fast